Arrangement for attaching a miniature electrical motor

ABSTRACT

An arrangement for attaching a miniature electric motor for driving a toy vehicle to a frame in the vehicle, in which the motor is provided at each axial end with a cylindrical collar which is coaxial with its shaft, one of said collars engaging in said aperture in said transverse wall while the other rests in a semicylindrical groove in a detachable retaining plate which presses the motor against a supporting base.

United States Patent Inventor Wolfgang Richter Nurnberg, German Appl.No. 787,399 Filed Dec. 27. I968 Patented June 8, 1971 Assignee ErnstPaul Lehmann Patentwerk Nurnberg, Germany Priority June 26, 1968 GermanyP 17 03 671.4

ARRANGEMENT FOR ATTACHING A MINIATURE ELECTRICAL MOTOR 6 Claims, 8Drawing Figs.

U.S. Cl 46/243, 46/2 I 7 Int. Cl A63h 33/26 [50] Field ofSearchv 46/243,216,217

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3.027.682 4/l962 Schlau46/243X Primary E.tanziner Louis G. Mancene Assislan! E.raminerR0bert F.Cutting Attorney-Heme & Baxley ABSTRACT: An arrangement for attaching aminiature electric motor for driving a toy vehicle to a frame in thevehicle, in which the motor is provided at each axial end with acylindrical collar which is coaxial with its shaft, one of said collarsengaging in said aperture in said transverse wall while the other restsin a semicylindrical groove in a detachable retaining plate whichpresses the motor against a supporting base.

ARRANGEMENT FOR ATTACIIING A MINIATURE ELECTRICAL MOTOR BACKGROUND TOTHE INVENTION Different methods of affixation of miniature motors areknown in the art. Some of these require several and in some instancescomplicated, fixing elements while in others as' sembly takes aconsiderable amount of time, so that generally speaking these means offixation do not give satisfaction. Moreover, frequently the motor is notsufficiently firmly held and faults are then likely to arise in courseof use.

It is the object of the present invention to provide a simplearrangement for attaching a miniature electrical motor in such a waythat assembly is easy and quick to accomplish and that, nevertheless,the motor is sufficiently securely located.

This invention relates to an arrangement for attaching a miniatureelectrical motor for driving a toy vehicle to a frame in the vehicle.

According to the present invention the motor is at each axial endprovided with a cylindrical collar which is coaxial with the motorshaft, one of said collars engaging an opening in a transverse wall ofthe vehicle frame, whereas the other engages a semicylindrical groove ina detachable retaining plate which presses the motor down against itssupporting base.

This motor can therefore be fixed in position by simply inserting onecollar into the recess in the transverse wall of the frame and thensecuring the retaining plate to the frame. This can be done for instanceby means of a single screw. The motor is thus axially and radiallylocated because it bears firmly against the transverse wall and againstits supporting base.

However, it has been found advantageous to provide the motor with acylindrical outer casing and at the same time to provide means whichprevent the casing from rotating. Preferably such means consist of atleast one projection at the end face of the motor, said projectionengaging a corresponding recess in the transverse wall of the frame.Naturally two such projections extending in diagonally oppositedirections could be provided, thereby permitting the motor to beinserted in two 180? relatively displaced positions.

For supplying the current it is preferred to provide at the end of themotor, which is located by the retaining plate, two axially parallellugs. If the motor has two projections for peripherally locating thesame against rotation, then the connecting lugs may be coplanar with theprojections to permit the motor to be turned through 180 and thepolarity of the lugs thereby reversed. This is a matter of importance inthe case of DC motors, since the direction of travel of the vehicle canbe readily reversed by turning the motor I80".

According to another feature of the invention two spring arms of theretaining plate may be arranged to bear on the connecting lugs.Generally these spring arms will be connected by suitable leads to thecurrent collectors of the vehicle or to a battery.

Preferably the spring arms are attached to the underside of theretaining plate in such manner that they can be firmly wedged betweenthe retaining plate and the frame when the retaining plate is screwed tothe frame. More particularly, the spring arms may have the form ofstrip-shaped sheet metal contacts located underneath the retaining plateand having connecting elements which project upwards beyond the top ofthe retaining plate.

According to another feature of the invention the connecting elements ofeach strip contact may comprise an angled soldering tab for connectionthereto of a current lead as well as a spring contact for connecting upother points of current con sumption. Such a point of currentconsumption may be illuminating equipment.

It is also within the scope of the invention to mount two coils and acapacitor on the retaining plate to serve as an interference suppressor.

In order to facilitate the affixation of the interference suppressor theretaining plate may be provided with two supplementary soldering points.If this is the case, the soldering points are used for connecting up thecurrent supply leads and each one of the soldering points may beconnected through one of the coils to the soldering tab of one of thestrip contacts, both soldering points being interconnected through thecapacitor.

For lateral location of the retaining plate, the same may be insertedinto a recess in the frame and for its longitudinal location it may beprovided with lateral projections engaging slots extending crosswise ofthe motor shaft.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS FIG. I is a plan view ofa toy vehicleframe and ofan electric motor inserted therein,

FIG, 2 is a cross-sectional view, in the direction of the arrow 11 inFIG. 1, to show the transverse wall after the motor has been removed,

FIG. 3 is a view of the end face of the motor intended to bear againstthe transverse wall,

FIGS. 4 and 5 are sections taken on the lines lV-IV and V-V in FIG. 2after insertion of the motor,

FIG. 6 is a section taken on the line VI-VI in FIG. 5, and

FIG. 7a is a plan view and FIG. 7b is a side view respectively ofa stripcontact.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION An electric motor Iwith a cylindrical casing is provided at each ofits axial end faces 2and 3 coaxially with its motor shaft 4, with cylindrical collars 5 and 6respectively. The collars 5 and 6 contain the bearings of the motorshaft 4 which projects from the motor through the collar 5 where itcarries a pinion 7 cooperating with driving gearing marked 8.

The gearing 8 is mounted in a frame 9 inside a casing 10 and it isseparated from the motor 1 by a transverse wall 11. The gearing 8transmits torque through a gearwheel I2 to an axle 13 for the runningwheels 14 which on their insides bear against a sliding currentcollecting contact 15. The transverse wall 11 forms part ofa detachablesidewall 16 and is insertable into guideways 17 in the casing 10.

The transverse wall II has an opening 18 for the reception of the collar5 at the one end 2 of the motor 1. Moreover, the transverse wall I] isformed with one recess 19 and the casing with a similar recess 20 (FIG.2) which are each engaged by one of two diametrically oppositeprojections 21 and 21' (FIG. 3) on the end face 2 of the motor I andthus prevent the motor casing from turning.

A retaining plate 23 is provided for locating the end face 3 of themotor 1. This retaining plate 23 is approximately level with the motorshaft 4 and rests in a recess 22 in the frame 9. A portion 23' of theplate 23 projecting from the recess 22 has a substantially semicirculargroove 24 (FIG. 6) which cooperates with the collar 6 on the end face 3of the motor 1 and presses the cylindrical casing 25 of the motor Iagainst a supporting base 26 in the frame 9.

The retaining plate 23 may be attached to the frame 9 for instance bymeans of a screw 27. This plate 23 is secured against lengthwisedisplacement by lateral extensions 28, 28' which engage slots 29, 29respectively extending crosswise of the motor axis, and against lateraldisplacement by the sidewalls 30,30 of the recess 22.

The motor 1 is supplied with current through two lugs 31, 31' extendingparallel to its axis and projecting from the end face 3 in a planeparallel to the base 126. Spring arms 32, 32' affixed to the retainingplate 21 bear on the lugs 31, 31'; each arm forming part of a stripcontact 33. Besides the spring arms 32 each strip contact 33 has asoldering tab 34 (FIGS. 71: and 7b) and a spring contact blade 35. Thetwo strip contacts 33 are attached to the underside of the retainingplate 21 and only their contact-making ends, i.e. the ends of thesoldering tabs 34 and the contact blades 35 project from the plate. Aswill be understood more particularly by reference to FIG. 7b. thecontact blades 35 project obliquely upwards from the retaining plate 21.In order to increase the spring effect of the spring arm 32 the stripcontact 33 containing two oppositely angled bends in the region ofitsspring arm.

Besides the spring contacts 33 of the retaining plate 21 carries twosoldering points 36, 36. These permit an interference suppressorcomprising two coils 37, 37', and a capacitor 38 to be mounted on theretaining plate 21 to prevent the running toy vehicle from causinginterference with radio and television receivers. The wiring is soarranged that the connecting wires 39, 40 from the sliding contacts aretaken to the soldering points 36, 36', each of which is connectedthrough one of the coils 37, 37' to the corresponding soldering tab ofone of the strip contacts 33 which by means of its spring arm 32cooperates with the corresponding connecting lug 31, 31' of the motor 1.The soldering points 36 are also interconnected by the low capacitancecapacitor 38. The contact blades 35 serve for connecting up other pointsof consumption, such as illuminating means and other devices.

It will therefore be understood that the invention permits all thesoldering to be done prior to the assembly of the motor.

For assembling the motor 1 the only operation required is that ofattaching the retaining plate 2l to the frame 9 by means of the screw27.

lclaim:

l. A driving means for a toy vehicle with an electric motor for drivingat least one wheel of the vehicle. said toy comprising in combination:

an electric motor including a casing, a drive shaft and a collar at eachface end of the casing on the outside thereof, said drive shaftbeingjournaled in said collars;

a frame for said casing;

a first support assembly comprising a transverse wall including anopening mounted within said frame, one of said collars being received insaid opening for supporting the respective end ofthe motor casing; and

a second support assembly comprising a retaining plate including anelongate groove of semicylindrical cross section, an elongate countermember secured to the frame and disposed underneath said retaining plateand said casing, and releasable fastening means for holding saidretaining plate against said counter member upon tightening of thefastening means, said other collar being received in said groove,tightening of said fastening means pressing the casing against saidcounter member.

2. A driving means for a toy vehicle as claimed in claim 1, in which themotor is cylindrical, and means are provided to prevent said casing fromrotating comprising at least one projection which cooperates with acorresponding recess in said transverse wall ofthe first supportassembly.

3. A driving means for a toy vehicle as claimed in claim I, in which theend face of the motor casing, which is held by said retaining plate, isprovided for the supply of electric current with two axial parallelconnecting lugs.

4. A driving means for a toy vehicle as claimed in claim 1, in whichspring arm contact strips for carrying electric current to said motorare located below said retaining plate, and each said contact strip hasan angled-off soldering tab for connection thereto of a current supplywire and a spring contact blade for making connections to other pointsof current consumption.

5. A driving means for a toy vehicle as claimed in claim I, in which theretaining plate carries an interference suppressor comprising two coilsand a capacitor.

6. A driving means for a toy vehicle as claimed in claim I, in which forlateral location said retaining plate is fitted into a recess in theframe and for longitudinal location has lateral extensions engagingslots beyond said recess.

1. A driving means for a toy vehicle with an electric motor for drivingat least one wheel of the vehicle, said toy comprising in combination:an electric motor including a casing, a drive shaft and a collar at eachface end of the casing on the outside thereof, said drive shaft beingjournaled in said collars; a frame for said casing; a first supportassembly comprising a transverse wall including an opening mountedwithin said frame, one of said collars being received in said openingfor supporting the respective end of the motor casing; and a secondsupport assembly comprising a retaining plate including an elongategroove of semicylindrical cross section, an elongate counter membersecured to the frame and disposed underneath said retaining plate andsaid casing, and releasable fastening means for holding said retainingplate against said counter member upon tightening of the fasteningmeans, said other collar being received in said groove, tightening ofsaid fastening means pressing the casing against said counter member. 2.A driving means for a toy vehicle as claimed in claim 1, in which themotor is cylindrical, and means are provided to prevent said casing fromrotating comprising at least one projection which cooperates with acorresponding recess in said transverse wall of the first supportassembly.
 3. A driving means for a toy vehicle as claimed in claim 1, inwhich the end face of the motor casing, which is held by said retainingplate, is provided for the supply of electric current with two axialparallel connecting lugs.
 4. A driving means for a toy vehicle asclaimed in claim 1, in which spring arm contact strips for carryingelectric current to said motor are located below saId retaining plate,and each said contact strip has an angled-off soldering tab forconnection thereto of a current supply wire and a spring contact bladefor making connections to other points of current consumption.
 5. Adriving means for a toy vehicle as claimed in claim 1, in which theretaining plate carries an interference suppressor comprising two coilsand a capacitor.
 6. A driving means for a toy vehicle as claimed inclaim 1, in which for lateral location said retaining plate is fittedinto a recess in the frame and for longitudinal location has lateralextensions engaging slots beyond said recess.